DesignCAD version 24, also known as DesignCAD Express or DesignCAD 2D, is the latest release of IMSI/Design’s popular 2D DesignCAD software for Windows. It is a versatile, affordable, and easy-to-use 2D CAD program that is perfect for beginners. The intuitive interface will give you access to hundreds of 2D drafting and design tools, allowing you to quickly and easily produce accurately scaled, precision designs!

Key Features:

Smart Menus

DesignCAD offers smart menus that are initially presented with a shortened list of available menu commands to help reduce screen clutter. The menus can be expanded to show all items by clicking on the double arrows at the bottom of the menu. Great for learning, this option can be enabled or disabled depending on the user's preference

Layers

DesignCAD utilizes layers that can be independently switched on and off in order for users to have a better visibility of the drawing. For example, if you just need to see the outline of a component, switch off other layers containing center lines, dimensions, etc.

DesignCAD can also lock layers, so that they are visible but not editable, in order to prevent accidental changes to the locked layer. Some features of objects, such as color or linestyle, can also be controlled on a per-layer basis.

Associative Dimensions

Associative dimensions will automatically update as you change the size of the object they are associated with. For example, if a radial dimension is associated with a circle, when you change the radius of the circle using the Info Box, the associated radial dimension is automatically updated to match the new radius.

AutoCAD® DWG/DXF Compatible

DesignCAD lets you work with the latest AutoCAD® files. Import/Export AutoCAD® files through 2014 and enjoy excellent compatibility with AutoCAD® layouts and PaperSpace, plus support for AutoCAD® layers, linestyles, views, and blocks in both DXF and DWG file formats. DesignCAD even offers limited support for Architectural Desktop (ADT) objects, which are recognized and exploded to DesignCAD equivalents.

New Features:

DesignCAD version 24 offers new and improved features for greater productivity, added flexibility, and improvements working with older drawing files.

New "Match Properties" Tool

The Match Properties tool allows the user to apply properties from one object to all selected objects. The user may choose which properties to apply from the source object to the selection set.

Improved 2D Box Command

The 2D Box command now has a "Save as Line" option; by default it is checked. If unchecked, the result will be a plane instead of a line. This makes the 2D Box command more consistent with other polygon commands.

New Double Line Entities Default Setting

DesignCAD now saves the current fill pattern for double line entities as a default setting when the program closes. Previously the default always reverted to solid fill.

Improved Workspace Configuration

The Workspace Configuration dialog box now has a master checkbox to check or uncheck all available categories to be saved in the workspace template.

New Coordinate System Marker

A Coordinate System marker can now be enabled or disabled in the Grid Options dialog box.

Improved Info Box

When one or more items are selected, there is now an option to show only the layers used by the selected objects in the Info Box layer list. This makes it easy to determine at a glance exactly which layers are used by the selected objects.

Improved Backward Compatibility

New DesignCAD version 24 improves backward compatibly in several areas, so you can work with older drawing files with the latest technology. A problem loading some DesignCAD 97 drawings with embedded symbols has been fixed, and we’d corrected some problems using Drag-select on grouped items. Also, DesignCAD v24 corrects a problem displaying older drawings containing text-only dimensions, as the text-only dimensions were displaying with extension lines and arrows, when only the text should have been shown.